What do oaks, pine, and cedar tell me about this property?

I am looking to purchase a property (4th time is the charm?). It is mostly wooded and comes with almost 3 acres. I noticed a number of oaks and pine, but also a large number of cedar trees. (there were other trees too, but not ones I could pick out quickly) I thought cedar trees grew in moist soil near water... but this property is on a hill and appears fairly dry.

I know in a field, the kind of plants growing can give indications about the soil. Can trees do the same thing? If so, what does oaks, pines, and cedars mean?

Can you be more specific about the types of oak and cedar? Red oak or white oak? Northern white cedar or Eastern red cedar? Some prefer moist and swampy environment and some can tolerate dry conditions. It is species specific so good to know what they are. Also inspect dead trees in the lot and the cause. What about understory trees and ground cover do you have? Some pictures would be helpful.

Without seeing it, I'd guess well-drained, silty loam. Probably an old field that's long since been overtaken.   Are there any stone walls in the area?

If you haven't heard of Web Soils Survey, it's a great reource for determining soil types (US State & Territory specific).

   https://websoilsurvey.nrcs.usda.gov/app/

It isn't the most intuitive site, so here's a quick guide as to how it works:

- Start by hitting the green "WSS" tab at top of the page, then zoom into your area of interest and 'window' it using the "AOI" tab,

- Then select the "Soil Map" tab (top left of page) and that will provide you with a soil-type report.


You might also check out the old soil surveys. These are overlaid on aerials dating back to the early to mid 1900's(?).
You have to 'thumb' your way through to find the index. Not quite as user-friendly as WSS, though these are handy to get an idea of how the land was used back in the day.

   https://archive.org/details/usda-maine

   https://archive.org/details/usda-soil-surveys

Hope this helps!

side-topic: Where I live, every county has a GIS land-explorer website where you can look up a parcel and then play with all the layers to learn things about the topography, soil-strata, aerial-picture history, easements, etc. But I know some states make that harder for privacy purposes. If you have something like that and haven't done so already, see what it can tell you.

Interestingly, many plants that can grow in swamps also enjoy poor, thin, dry soils. I am guessing your field is of a poorer, drier soil type and was pasture or hayfield before growing back to forest—that tends to be the source for pines.

Yes, trees can predict what kind of soil you have.

I have several kinds of oaks and juniper trees.  They seem to like soil that does not need much water.

Yeah like others have said well drained soil. You might want to consider how to keep more water on that property like swales or something. Sounds like wild blueberries and sweet fern would like the property.

I would check the soil itself, if at all possible, because those tree types also grow bizarrely well in heavy, rocky clay. Pearl usually suggests actually tasting the soil. I'm not sure what I'd personally know by doing that, but I have decided that if/ when I ever shop for land again, I'll definitely take a small spade with me, so I can find a discrete place and pull up some to see what I may be getting into. I'd also look at the rest of the plants. The weeds, surely, but also anything the previous owners obviously planted, and look at the condition the plants are in.

Eastern red cedar (Juniperus virginiana) is basically a pioneer species on old abandoned pasture, not a moisture indicator at all. It colonises thin, poor, disturbed soil pretty aggressively. Mix of cedar and pine on a hill usually points to land that was farmed or grazed not that long ago rather than true old woodland.